The invention concerns a crop harvester header for mowing stalk-like crop, the header including several intake and mowing drums mounted to the header frame in side-by-side relationship to each other for cutting and conveying the harvested crop, and further including deflecting conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums, in the direction of operation, that are arranged to take over and convey the harvested crop centrally into an intake channel of a harvesting machine, as well as transverse conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums that are provided to take over the harvested crop from at least one of the intake and mowing drums and to convey it further to the deflecting conveying drum, where the enveloping circle of each of the transverse conveying drums and the enveloping circle of a respective one of the intake and mowing drums overlap.
DE 40 02 344 A proposes a header or front attachment implement that is composed of conveying drums with vertical axes of rotation preceded by several supply rolls. The supply rolls cut the crop. At the rear sides of the supply rolls, the cut crop is taken over by the conveying drum which conducts it to the intake rolls of a chopper drum of a forage harvester in interaction with the supply rolls that follow downstream. In another embodiment, four conveying drums are mounted in side-by-side relationship to each other and operate to transfer the cut crop to a transverse screw conveyor. The enveloping circles of the conveyor drums and the supply rolls, as well as adjoining supply rolls, overlap.
DE 199 53 521 A shows a cutting and conveying arrangement for stalk-like cereal crop that is provided with four cutting and conveying rotors arranged in side-by-side relationship to each other. The crop taken up by the cutting and conveying rotors is extracted by rotating clean-out devices from the pocket-shaped recesses of the cutting and conveying rotors. A transverse screw conveyor transports the crop to the center of the machine from which it is conducted to a chopper drum of a forage harvester. Intermediate conveying rotors are arranged between the outer cutting and conveying rotors and the transverse screw conveyor, whose enveloping circle overlaps the enveloping circle of the rotating clean-out devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225 discloses a header for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crop in which several intake and mowing drums are distributed over the operating width. The crop is transported inward on the rear side of the intake and mowing drums along the rear wall, where it is conveyed by transverse conveying drums in the valley region between adjoining intake and mowing drums, the conveying drums including driver elements that extend through slots in the rear wall. The inner intake and mowing drums transfer the crop to a slope conveyor drum whose axis of rotation is inclined forward, that bridges the vertical distance between the plane of the operation of the intake and mowing drums and the plane of the intake passage of the following chopper drum of a forage harvester.
EP 1 008 291 A proposes a machine for mowing stalk-like cereal crop that is equipped with several drum-shaped take-up elements distributed over the operation width that take up and convey the harvested crop. The crop is conducted by the take-up elements to an independent transverse conveyor that is arranged behind the take-up elements as seen in the direction of operation. The transverse conveyor conveys the crop along a guide wall that is arranged immediately behind the take-up elements. The transverse conveyor uses conveyor belts or conveyor drums that are equipped on their circumference with driver elements in the shape of a set of gear teeth. The enveloping circles of adjoining driver elements overlap. The conveyor drums arranged furthest inward deflect the crop to the rear and convey it into the intake channel of the chopper drum of a forage harvester.
The machine disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225 has the advantage of a short configuration due to the fact that the transverse conveying drums interact with the intake and mowing drums, so that the chopper drum of a forage harvester carrying it need absorb only a relatively small amount of torque. Due to the fact that the transverse conveyors operate independently of the intake and mowing drums, the machines according to EP 1 008 291 A and DE 199 53 521 A are considerably longer and apply a greater load to the chopper drum of a forage harvester. The configuration according to DE 40 02 344 A cannot be used with machines that have operating widths such as those of the aforementioned machines.
The problem underlying the invention is seen in the need to improve the flow of the crop in a compact machine for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crops.
According to the present invention, there is provided a header for the mowing of stalk-like crop equipped with a plurality of side-by-side intake and mowing drums deflecting conveying drums located behind the intake and mowing drums, as well as transverse conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums so as to take over the harvested crop from at least one of the intake and mowing drums, with the enveloping circle of a given transverse conveying drum overlapping the enveloping circle of an associated deflecting conveying drum.
In this way, the result is an improvement of the transport of the crop. The transfer of the crop from the transverse conveying drums to the respective associated deflecting conveying drums is performed without any problems.
The deflecting conveying drum can operate as a crop take-out or stripping device for the associated transverse conveying drum, that is, it extracts the crop from it. Thereby a separate crop take-out or stripping device for each of the transverse conveying drums can be omitted.
The deflecting conveying drum is, in particular, a slope conveyor drum, that is provided with an axis of rotation inclined slightly forward and that raises the crop into the intake channel of the header. However, the use of an endless conveyor equipped with tensioning means (chains or belts) as a deflecting conveying unit is also conceivable. A slope conveyor drum is preferably equipped with conveyor disks arranged one above another, about whose circumference drivers are distributed. These drivers may be provided with an aggressive conveying performance in order to attain the result that the crop is actively extracted from the transverse conveying arrangement. For this purpose, the drivers may be provided with a surface leading in the direction of rotation that extends approximately radially.
The transverse conveying units are each preferably a transverse conveying drum with an approximately vertical axis of rotation, although the use of an endless conveyor equipped with tensioning means (chains or belts) would also be possible. The transverse conveying drum can also be equipped with conveyor disks arranged one above another, that are provided with drivers. Most appropriately, the drivers of the transverse conveying drums are provided with a rejecting conveying performance so that the deflecting conveying unit can easily extract the crop from the associated transverse conveying drum. Such a performance can be attained by a curvature of the drivers trailing opposite the direction of rotation. The overlap of the enveloping circles of the associated deflecting and conveying drums can be attained by having the drivers of each arranged with an offset to each other vertically and/or azimuthally. The drivers for the deflecting conveying unit and/or the transverse conveying arrangement as described can also be applied to headers for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crop whose transverse conveying drums do not overlap the enveloping circle of the associated deflecting conveying drums and/or one of the intake and mowing drums where the transverse conveying drum and/or the deflecting conveying drum may be configured as endless conveyors instead of drum conveyors, if desired.
The header, according to the invention, is provided with at least two intake and mowing drums. As a rule, an inner intake and mowing drum is arranged directly alongside the longitudinal center plane of the header and a second intake and mowing drum on the same side of the machine is arranged further outward and beside the inner intake and mowing drum. The transverse conveying drum is preferably arranged in such a way that its enveloping circle overlaps the enveloping circle of the second intake and mowing drum from the center of the header. It is conceivable that, in addition, it could also overlap the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drum. The enveloping circle of the deflecting conveying drum may also overlap the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drum. In particular, if the header is provided with an uneven number of intake and mowing drums, the intake and mowing drum characterized here as the inner intake and mowing drum may be offset to the side with respect to the longitudinal center plane of the header.